


The Beat My Heart Skips

by thearkdelinquents



Category: The 100 (TV), The 100 Series - Kass Morgan
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Music, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Body Paint, Dancing, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Pining, music festival AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-21
Updated: 2017-02-21
Packaged: 2018-09-26 02:26:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9857849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thearkdelinquents/pseuds/thearkdelinquents
Summary: “You just got beer all over our tent. That I have to sleep in for the next four days.” Clarke said, gesturing towards the now-wet tent and raising an eyebrow at him.“Hey, you could always come stay in ours.” Bellamy winked at her as Jasper snorted and clapped him on the back.“Or you could always pull your head out of your ass and watch where you’re going,” she fired back, staring him down.Bellamy grinned at her as he sensed the challenge. It was going to be a long four days.-The Bellarke Music Festival AU I've been wanting to write forever.





	

**Author's Note:**

> HELLO EVERYONE! I haven't posted in forever because I suck and this has taken me FOREVER to write. Between picking tropes and fixing tenses, this thing has been a beast. But, I love the way it came out.
> 
> please, please, please leave feedback! (who knows I may post a part 2)
> 
> more notes at the end!
> 
> UPDATE: I did a bit of editing since I posted this to help with the continuity and flow of the story. I don't have a beta so I often fix things after I post so sorry if this is your econd time reading it and things are different!

The windows were down and their music was blaring- some indie rock band they were going to see tomorrow. Clarke had her sunglasses on with her feet propped up on the dash while Raven drove beside her. ‘Drove’ was a generous word; they had been sitting in an incredibly slow moving line for the last hour. 

“Jesus Christ, this was, what, the eighth year they’ve had this festival and they still can’t get a more efficient way of letting people into their campsites?” Raven said, staring out of the windshield at the long line of cars in front of her.

The mood in the air was joyful, summery. The excitement of the next week buzzed in the air. 

“Why don’t you email the festival management with a copy of the parking schematic I’m sure you had already drawn up in your head?” Clarke said, smiling at her best friend.

“All I know was, I’ve got to piss.” Wells said, piping up from the back seat.

“Well, for the next four days, you’ll get to use a portapotty whenever you like!” Raven said, looking at Wells through the rearview mirror.

Wells made a groaning noise and sat back in his seat. Without looking up from his phone he asks, “How did it end up being only the three of us again...?”

“Let’s see, Monroe had work, Harper was broke, Roan was abroad, and I didn’t really want to ask my mom to come.” Clarke counted off on her fingers.

“I don’t know, Abby seems like she would be the life of the party,” Raven said, smirking sideways at Clarke.

“Oh, shut up,” Clarke rolls her eyes, punching Raven in the arm.

Raven’s Jeep was loaded to the brim with their music festival necessities: tents, grill, body paint, chips, and, of course, booze. This wasn’t their first music festival but they still wanted to make sure they had everything under control. Raven was the ringmaster, making lwasts and itineraries for months. Clarke was sure they were well-prepared for anything that came their way this week.

-

Finally, properly parked in their allotted campsite slot, Clarke jumped out of the car and opens up the back to start unloading. The atmosphere was chaotic and nice. All around her people are laughing, playing music, drinking. The campsite was huge, the rows of tents go on and on, the clearing they’re in surrounded by trees. There are water stations and portapotties; the bare minimum for people to survive. People had flags rawased up into the sky everywhere to mark their campsite. Before she starts trying to meet people, Clarke wants to get everything set up first. Sure, making friends was part of the festival experience, but she can’t really focus on anything until they’ve got a home base set up. Her neighbors had a different idea.

“Oh shit, sorry.” A scrawny boy accidentally bumped into Clarke as she was taking out the tent that will be their home for the next four days. Clarke gave him a once over. He was already drunk and has a beer in his hand, sloshing around. He looked nice but kind of nerdy. Also smells like pot.

“No, don’t worry about it.” Clarke said, turning her attention back to her tent.

“I’m your neighbor, Jasper!” The boy singsongs beside her.

“Clarke,” she said, still not looking up. 

“So… you excited for Arkfest 2016?” the boy asks, shouting the last few words, not catching the hint that Clarke was busy.

“Uh, yeah. Just trying to get my campsite re-“ She was interrupted by beer splashing the side of her face and down her shirt. She turned back to Jasper and saw he was face first on the ground, another guy beside him with a football in head.

“Oh my God, Jasper, dude, I’m sorry.” The new guy laughed and he brushes himself off and helps Jasper up. Soon the two are laughing at the dirt on each other’s shirts. The other boy was taller than Jasper with much darker skin and ruffles of curls for hair. 

“What the hell?!” Clarke said, staring at them. Finally, they realize she was there. The football guy turned and looked at her, his eyes still glinting with laughter. Clarke would’ve thought they were a nice shade of brown had she not been covered in alcohol.

“Oh…” He looked Clarke up and down, his eyes slowing a bit when they get to her boobs. Clarke became acutely aware how tightly her beer-soaked shirt was clinging to her. “Sorry,” he said, locking eyes with her, a smile still on his face, not looking sorry at all.

“You just got beer all over our tent. That I have to sleep in for the next four days.” Clarke said, gesturing towards the now-wet tent and raising an eyebrow at him. 

“Hey, you could always come stay in ours.” He winked at her as Jasper snorted and clapped him on the back. 

“Or you could always pull your head out of your ass and watch where you’re going,” she fired back, staring him down. Bellamy grinned at her as he sensed the challenge. It was going to be a long four days. 

“Lighten up, Princess,” was all he said before turning back around and throwing the football back at his larger friend down the row. Clarke stared down after him, the beer soaking her shirt.

“What the hell happened back here?” Raven said, rounding the back of the car. 

Clarke turned back towards the trunk, “Our neighbor was a dick.” She nods in his direction.  
Raven peered around Clarke to get a better view. “I don’t know, he’s kind of hot.”

Clarke scoffs, “Yeah, so was this beer his friend spill down my shirt.” She still can’t get the tent bag out from between the cooler and Wells’ duffel bag. She throws her hands down in frustration.

“Whatever, I need to go change.” Clarke grabbed her bag of clothes off of the top of their pile and grabbed a new tank top to put on and heads towards the line of portapotties at the other end of the row.

-

“This is why I love getting here a day early,” Raven said, passing Clarke a beer. Her tanned legs are sprawled out on top of the car beside Clarke.

“I love watching the sun set over the campsite. I try to draw it but I can never quite get the right feel.” Clarke looked off into the distance. From their vantage point atop Raven’s Jeep, she could see the last rows of tents and the sun setting on the horizon. The purples and pinks and oranges give the campsite an out-of-this-world feeling.

They sat for a while, people watching. The group across from them are pouring beer down a funnel into each other’s mouths. The people behind them are smoking weed. 

“Hey guys, our neighbors invited us to play pong!” Wells shouted up from below.

“Hard pass.” Clarke said, without turning around. Raven jumped to the ground

Wells walked over to her side of the car. “Oh, come on, you’re the reigning beer pong champion!”

“I’m good,” she said, shaking her half empty beer in the air.

“Oh, you’re afraid these new guys will beat you, aren’t you?” Wells said, nudging Raven. They smirked. Clarke knows they’re pushing her competition buttons. She knows they know how to work her. They’ve all been friends long enough they know how to get Clarke to do what they want. And yet, it works anyway.

She looked down at them. Raven wiggled her eyebrows at her. Clarke rolled her eyes, “Oh fine.” She jumps down and follows them.

They ducked into the canopy beside theirs. Their neighbors’ campsite was a wreck. Where Clarke, Raven, and Wells had a table with a box of food and plates and napkins, the boys beside them had a table diagonally through the canopy with two triangles of cups of beer on each end. At the front of their campsite was an old truck. It’s beat up, but not broken down. Clarke can tell whoever owns it put a lot of time into it. Their food, the little they do had, was thrown on the tailgate of the truck, some Cosmic Brownies squished by the girl sitting on them. She doesn’t notice because she was busy giving heart eyes to the football guy from earlier. He looked over at the new arrivals and his eyes land on Clarke. They lock eyes for a second and Clarke looked away. The scrawny boy she met earlier was repositioning the cups on the table when he spots them.

“Hey, guys you made it!!” He said, sliding towards them, still tipsy. He puts his arms around Wells shoulder. Wells halfway holds him up to keep him from falling.

“I think some introductions are in order!” He yelled over the music, gesturing toward the canopy full of people.

He pointed at the boy controlling the music, “This was my good buddy, Monty!” 

Monty gave a small smile and a wave. “I’m the only one not drunk!” He yelled, laughing.

“Right you are, buddy.” Jasper said. “This was our large friend Lincoln!” He pats a guy on the shoulder covered in tattoos. Lincoln clasps Wells on the shoulder and waves to Raven and Clarke.

“And this,” Jasper continued, letting go of Wells and sauntering over to the truck, “is my good friend Bellamy!”

Jasper put his arm around Bellamy and Bellamy looked back at Clarke, Raven, and Wells, his eyes lingering on Clarke a little too long for her comfort. The girl he was flirting with noticed and started picking at her nails.

“Bellamy, this is Wells,” Jasper said, pointing at Wells.

“Robin,” Jasper turned towards Raven.

“Uh, actually it’s Raven,” Raven laughed

“Oh, right, wrong bird.”

Everyone laughed while Bellamy avoided looking at Clarke and vice versa.

Jasper turned towards Clarke, “And this is Clarke. Who we met earlier…” Jasper glanced between Clarke and Bellamy, sensing the tension. Clarke gave him her fakest smile and he returned the favor.

“Let’s play pong!” Raven piped up.

Everyone turned back towards the table in the middle of the canopy. There are a couple of other girls from a couple campsites down there, too. It was pretty crowded in the 9 feet by 9 feet canopy. 

“So, teams?” Jasper said, turning on the lanterns around the campsite. The sun had finally set.

Bellamy slowly walked over towards the table, “I’ll go first. With…” he scanned the site. The flirty girl perked up. “You.” Bellamy, said, pointing at Raven. The girl looked at Raven with death in her eyes.

“Excellent choice!” Raven said, high fiving Bellamy.

“You look like you could destroy me in beer pong. Figured I would rather have you with me than against me.” Bellamy said a little too flirty, Clarke thought.

Clarke straightened up, “I’ll play.”

Bellamy turned to her, raising his eyebrow. “Up for a challenge, Princess?”

“Bellamy, I am the challenge.” Clarke said, crossing her arms.

Everyone around them sniggered while they stared each other down. Bellamy smirked at her and Clarke’s stomach flip flops. She looked away from him and at the people around her. 

“You. Lincoln, right?” Clarke smiled at him. Bellamy looked back at Raven.

“You ready, Robin?” 

Raven laughed and punched him in the arm, “Oh, shut up.”

They took their places at the table. Clarke across from Bellamy and Raven across from Lincoln. Everyone else crowded around the table.

“Oh, Clarke has this in the bag.” Wells said to Monty. “She was the reigning champion back at home.”

“I don’t know; Bellamy is pretty good.” Monty replied.

Raven and Lincoln play rock paper scissors to see who goes first. Lincoln beat Raven and Jasper tossed Clarke the ping pong ball.

Clarke steadied herself behind the table and put the ball in her fingertips. She lightly tossed it and it plunked into the middle cup. Raven groaned.

She smiled at Bellamy, “Drink up!”

He rolled his eyes and took the ball out of the cup and downed it in one gulp. Clarke watched his hand flex as he wipes his mouth. He took the ball and tossed it across the table. It rolled around the edge of a cup and down into the beer. He looked back up at Clarke and winks. Clarke huffed and rolled her eyes but felt her irritation at him start to dissipate. She always enjoyed real competition. Wells was horrible and Raven was okay, but Clarke was good. They had made fun of her for it forever.

“Why are you good at beer pong? That’s the dumbest thing to be good at.” Wells would say as he drank drink after drink.

“I don’t know! I just have a gift!” Clarke would say, tossing the ball into another one of his cups while Raven and Harper laughed on the side.

Clarke, Lincoln, Bellamy, and Raven’s game continued with Bellamy and Clarke sinking almost every shot, Lincoln missing almost every shot, and Raven going about 1 for 1.

“I’m so sorry, Clarke.” Lincoln would laugh as he missed again. “I should’ve said no; I suck at this game.”

“That’s probably why your alcohol tolerance is so high, you end up drinking like 48 beers every time we play.” Bellamy said from across the table.

“It’s okay, I’m good enough for the both of us,” Clarke said. Bellamy raised his eyebrow and shot the ball into her cup.

“Drink up.”

“Um, no? It wasn’t your turn. Pretty sure it’s Raven’s.” Clarke tossed the ball back to their side.

“Does it really matter?” He said, rolling her eyes at her.

“Yes, absolutely. It’s the rules.” Clarke folded her arms across her chest.

“It’s beer pong,” Bellamy said, leaning over the table.

“So?”

Clarke and Bellamy stared at each other again. Raven and Lincoln looked at them then back at each other. While Bellamy and Clarke continued in the stare down, Raven sank the ball into a cup. Clarke and Bellamy looked away from each other, finally. Lincoln grabbed the cup and downed its contents. It was down to two cups on Raven and Bellamy’s side and one cup on Lincoln and Clarke’s.

“No pressure.” Raven said to Bellamy.

“None at all.” He said, looking at the cup across the table. He tossed the ball and it sank straight into the cup across the table. Raven and Bellamy and the surrounding crowd burst into yells and Bellamy picked Raven up in a side hug. 

“Oh come on, you were halfway across the table when you threw it!” Clarke yelled.

Bellamy rolled his eyes. “I was not.”

“You were leaning over the table when you threw it!” Everyone around them starts getting quiet. It’s down to just Wells, Jasper, and Monty, now. The other girls left when they realized they weren’t getting any more attention or alcohol. “Everyone knows the elbow can’t pass the edge of the table.”

“I just think you can’t stand when someone beats you at something.”

“Oh, bullshit. You cheated.”

“Seriously?” They were on the side of the table now, standing close to each other yelling.

“Yes!”

“Clarke, it’s a game.” Clarke tried to not think about the way her name sounded when he said it.

“Yeah, a game that you cheated at.”

Bellamy suddenly uncrossed his arms and leaned towards her. Clarke’s heart dropped into her stomach. She felt his breath tickling the skin on her shoulder as he reached around her, grabbing the cup from her side of the table. He downed the beer.

“Lighten up, Princess.” Bellamy winked at her and sauntered off to Lincoln and Monty at the back of the truck serving as their pantry. Clarke stared after him for a second, the knot in her stomach starting to loosen. She eventually walked over to Raven, Wells, and Jasper on the other side of the canopy.

“I don’t like him.”

“Clarke, you’re just mad you lost.” Raven laughed as Clarke rolled her eyes.

“Whatever…” Clarke grumbled. “I’m going back to the tent, I’m tired.

“Yeah, we should probably get some sleep.” Raven said, setting her drink down on the table. After saying their goodbyes, Clarke ignoring Bellamy entirely, they went back to their site.

-

The atmosphere throughout the campsites the next morning was buzzing. It was the first day of the festival and later everyone would get to go in and dance into the night. People were hulahooping, people were playing guitar, people were smoking weed, people were drinking at 9AM, people were just having a good time. 

Clarke looked up from her cereal. “Rae, you still want me to do your body paint, right?”

“Of course! I didn’t work out all summer for nothing.” Raven said out from under her blanket wrapped around her entire body and head, open just enough to eat a poptart.

“Can you do some for me too, Clarke?” Wells said, finally climbing out of the tent, rubbing at his eyes.

“Of course, sleepy head.” Clarke tossed him a strawberry poptart; his favorite. He mumbled his thanks and crumples into his designated lawn chair.

“I’ll finish my cereal and start getting dressed so I have time to do everyone’s.”

As they ate their breakfast, they heard their neighbors stirring. The tent unzipped and they can hear someone walk to the bed of the truck and rummage around for food. A few more zips come from the general direction of their neighbors’ tents as everyone else woke up.

Clarke grabbed her toothbrush and toothpaste and headed over to the communal sinks at the end of the row. She joined the handful of other campers already up and started brushing her teeth. The line for the portapotties next to the sinks stretched back four rows of tents. It was a good thing Clarke was an early riser and didn’t have to brave that line this morning. Suddenly someone bumped into her shoulder as she was bent over the sink. She looked over and saw Bellamy. Shirtless. 

“Morning,” he said, grinning at her. She thought he took his shirt off and followed her on purpose.

She grunted in response and continued brushing her teeth. Her eyes wandered back over to Bellamy’s tanned arms as they flex while he brushed his teeth. She looked out of the side of her eyes at his broad chest and abs. Her eyes continued down his body to-

“What are you staring at, Princess?” Bellamy smiled at her, eyebrow raised, toothbrush in the side of his mouth.

Clarke refused to look like she was caught. She spit her toothpaste out and rinses. 

“Probably the toilet paper stuck to your shoe.” Bellamy’s cockiness dropped as he looked down at his feet. Clarke laughed and walked back to her camp.

By the time Clarke got back to her camp and dressed in her tent, she came out to Jasper, Monty, Raven, and Wells sitting cross-legged on the ground, playing cards.

“Did we adopt you guys or something?” Clarke said, nudging Jasper with her foot.

“Yep! Thanks, mom.” Jasper said without looking up from their intense game of Spoons.

“You ready, Rae?” Clarke said after their round was over, ending in Wells being too slow to grab a spoon.

“Yeah!” Raven started to stand up. “There, Wells, I have to go, so you can be back in the game. Stop whining.”

Raven sat in one of their folding chairs and Clarke kneeled beside her, opening her fanny pack and pulling out brushes.

“I hate that thing.” Raven said, pulling her hair back, nodding at Clarke’s fanny pack. 

“Raven Reyes, I would think you, out of all people, would appreciate the effectiveness of a fanny pack.”

“I can appreciate usefulness but I can also appreciate not looking like a major dork.”

“Whatever, I stand by my belief in having things conveniently located by my pelvis.”

“If only you could hear that sentence from an outsiders’ perspective.” Monty said, staring at his cards in his hand. Raven and Clarke laughed as Clarke pulled out her deep purple paint.

Clarke started at Raven’s hand, swirling little vines and flowers on her ring finger and making her way up around her arm. The purple swirls and leaves and flowers wind on Raven’s skin and spread across her shoulder. Clarke moved the strap of Raven’s lace crop top to finish the design. She painted vines going across Raven’s collarbone and up her neck. Little purple flowers bloomed delicately across Raven’s arms and chest. Clarke didn’t spend a lot of time on it because she knows it’ll all be rubbed off by the end of the night, no matter how high quality her body paint was. Even still, when she was done, it looked incredible.

“Alright, done.” Clarke said, adding one more flower to the vine. She grabbed a bottle of water to rinse her brushes as Raven walks over to their full length mirror propped against her Jeep.

“Holy shit, Clarke! That was amazing!” Monty said as he saw Raven walking past him. Jasper and Wells look up.

“Ooh do me next!” Jasper said, jumping up.

“Hey hey hey, I asked this morning!” Wells, plopping down in the chair Raven was just in.

“I want some too!” Monty said, getting to his feet.

“Calm down, calm down, I can do everyone!”

“Wait, we’re doing people over here?” Bellamy said, pulling aside the tapestry.

“Clarke was painting all of us.” Jasper said excitedly.

“Painting?”

“Yeah, look at Raven.” Bellamy turned to Raven who does a full 360, showing off Clarke’s work. 

“Damn, that looks good.”

“Yeah, that’s what most people say when they see me.” Raven said, flicking her ponytail. Everyone started laughing and then fighting over who goes first. Clarke smiled as Bellamy grabbed Raven’s arms to get a closer look. Eventually they decide it’ll go in asking order and they’re all lined up in their chairs, Bellamy still standing off to the side, leaning on the canopy pole, still in his pajama pants. He was wearing a shirt, now, though. 

Clarke worked fast, but not sloppy. She had painted for years and smalls designs on people are much easier than the watercolors on canvas she does at home. After a couple of hours, Wells had gold roses covering his forearm, Jasper had colorful marbling on his shoulder and chest, and Monty had black and white geometric designs on the side of his face and down his neck. Lincoln had poked his head into the tent at one point to see where everyone was but sat out of getting painted since he was already covered in tattoos. Clarke sat back and admired her work. By the time she finished Monty, Wells and Raven had their bags packed up, ready to go into the festival. Monty and Jasper were admiring each other’s paint, taking selfies and the like. Bellamy and Lincoln had disappeared earlier but she could hear chip bags and talking from the tent beside them.

Clarke looked over at Wells and Raven as they stuff bags of trail mix into their pants to sneak in.

“You guys can head in without me, I’ll catch up.”

“It’s okay, we can wait!” Raven said, setting her bag down on a chair.

“No, no, really, it’s fine. I know you guys wanted to catch one of the early sets and my bands don’t start until later so I’ll catch up. I have to pack up and figure out places to hide food.”

“Fine, but we have to get a picture first, before our paint gets all rubbed off.” Raven grabbed her phone from her bag and peeked her head around the tapestry adjoining theirs’ and the boys’ sites. “Hey, Bellamy, can you take this picture for us?”

Clarke heard Bellamy agree and hop off the back of his truck. He came around the tapestry dividing their tents and grabbed Ravens phone. Raven, Clarke, and Wells grouped together against their other tapestry. They hugged, Wells and Raven taking care to show off their paint.

“1… 2… 3… got it.” Bellamy handed Raven’s phone back to her for approval.

“Oh, it’s perfect! Thanks Bellamy.” Raven grabbed her bag and turned back to Clarke. “You sure you don’t want us to wait?”

“Yeah no it’s fine I promise.”

“Alright well we will keep our phones on so text us when you head in so we can meet up.” Wells said, slinging his backpack across his shoulder.

“Perfect. See you guys in a bit.” Raven and Wells turned and headed down their row of tents towards the exit. Clarke turned around to get her stuff ready and was surprised and a little irritated to see Bellamy still standing there.

“Oh… um… what’s up?”

“Oh, I was just going to tell you that their paint looks really good, you do a good job.” Bellamy said, seeming, for the first time, a little flustered.

“Oh, thank you…” Clarke said, looking around. And, for some reason, she adds “Do you want some?”

Bellamy looked up, not expecting that at all. “I thought you didn’t like me?” Bellamy said, regaining his cockiness and smirking at Clarke.

“That’s right!” Clarke said, snapping her fingers. “Thanks for reminding me! Nevermind!” Clarke turned and started packing her brushes up into her pack. 

“Come on, Clarke I was joking. I would like some, yes, please.”

Clarke rolled her eyes and turned back to Bellamy. “Fine. But even any kind of slight annoyance and I quit. Even if I am halfway done. Then you’ll look dumb. And it’ll be your fault.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Bellamy said, taking his shirt off.

“Uh…” Clarke said, confused by the current events undressing before her.

“Oh, I want it on my back and arm, if that’s okay.” Bellamy said, looking up at her through his curls as he folds his shirt.

It was definitely not okay. “Yeah, that’s fine.” Clarke didn’t really want to have to stare at his incredibly muscular, tan back. She wanted to dislike him and his objective beauty messed that up. “You’ll just have to lay on the ground. All of the chairs have backs on them.”

Bellamy plopped down on the ground, crossing his arms under his chin and smiling up at her. Clarke grabbed her brushes out of her fanny pack and sat down beside him. He rolled his head to the side so he could look at her. His gaze made Clarke squirm. 

“So what do you want?”

“Oh, I don’t care, do what you want.”

What Clarke wanted to do was probably frowned upon to do to a guy she met yesterday. And that you don’t even like, she added, reminding herself.

“Alright then.” 

Clarke pulled out her white paint, thinking it would contrast nicely against his skin. She dipped her brush and started at his shoulder blade. She watched her brush swirl and flourish against his skin, the white standing out just like she had thought it would. She bent over his back, getting lost in the patterns she was painting; not even paying attention to what she was doing, just letting her hands work. His breath was making his back rise and fall rhythmically, creating a dance underneath Clarke’s fingertips. She swirled and dipped and painted across his shoulder blade and down his ribs. Her other hand was resting on his back to keep her other hand steady. Heat radiated between her hand and his back. He shivered as she slid her hand out of place so she could paint where it was. She was careful with her strokes, wanting it to be perfect. The longer she stared at him, the less she saw skin and more a canvas.

They sat in silence, but it wasn’t awkward. Clarke was concentrating on the paint and Bellamy was watching her concentrate. People in the sites around them were either drinking or heading into the festival while Clarke’s paint was curling low towards his hips. She watched as lines raced each other across his back and down his hips then back up to his shoulder, not really controlling what her hands did. Bellamy brought his arm out from under his chin so she could get to it and Clarke readjusted. She curved the paint around the muscles in his arms, wanting to accent them, not cover them. She took her time with details curving down his arm. Her face was close to his as she was bent over, working on his wrist next to his face. As she realized she was running out of room, she came back to reality and realized Bellamy was staring at her. They locked eyes. His brown eyes stared into her blue. Their faces were mere inches apart. A loud cheer erupted a few tents over as someone hit the redemption shot in beer pong.

Clarke cleared her throat and looked back down at her brush, her cheeks flushed. “Well, there. That should do it.” She finished the last flourish on his wrist and sat back, packing up her brushes.

Bellamy sat up on his other elbow, stretching his arm out to get a good look. 

He was covered in delicate yet powerful swirls. The white burned against his skin. He stood up and walked over to the mirror to get a better look.

“Wow…” He looked in the mirror, turning his head and back. The curls wound down his back, curving with his ribs and back, accenting him perfectly.

Clarke suddenly became very aware of how hard she was staring at him. She looked down at her phone. Four missed calls from Raven and 3 texts from Wells.

“How long have we been sitting here?” She said, still looking at her phone. Bellamy was still looking in the mirror. It hadn’t felt like that long. But it also felt like they had been sitting there forever. She looked at her clock. “Shit. Two hours!”

Bellamy looked back at her in shock. “What, no way!” It hadn’t felt like that. “You did Raven, Wells, Jasper, and Monty in that time earlier! What took you so long this time?”

Clarke started blushing, thinking about how lost she got in painting him. “Uh… your back was bigger…” Bellamy smirked at her and she blushed even more.

“Well, I definitely can’t wear a shirt now.” Bellamy threw his shirt back into his truck not seeming at all upset about not wearing it. Clarke shook her head and stood up, rinsing her brushes. Bellamy had a knack for reminding you how arrogant he was. “Looks like everyone left me and went in without me.”

Clarke took her pack off and set it on their fold out table by their food. Bellamy came back over to her tent.

“Thank you, Clarke. It looks awesome.” Clarke was avoiding looking at him, her cheeks still burning. 

“Yeah, no problem.” She grabbed her backpack and threw her wallet and sunscreen in her bag. “Well, see you later!” And Clarke practically ran from her campsite, her body still on fire from how close they were. Bellamy stared after her as she put as much distance as she could between them. 

-

Clarke eventually caught up with Wells and Raven just before the first set she was trying to catch that afternoon. They made their way through the crowd as close to the stage as they could get. 

“Where have you been?” Wells asked as they settle into their spots.

“I was packing my stuff and Bellamy asked for paint.”

“That took you two hours? You did mine in five minutes!” Wells said. 

“His wanted his back done so it took longer…” Clarke muttered, ignoring the knowing look Wells and Raven shared.

The band came on stage, saving Clarke from any more questions. She pushed Bellamy to the back of her mind and focused on the music. Wells, Raven, and Clarke danced like idiots to the band, singing all of the words. By the time the set was over and they were making their way out of the crowd, the sun was setting. They decided to eat dinner at a food truck, having burnt through their stashed goods already.

“Tomorrow night was that blacklight set so I’m going to need lots of body paint.” Wells said as they all settled down on the grass under the shade of a tree by the corndog truck.

“Same.” Raven said through a mouthful of food.

“Yeah, that’s fine. I’ll have to get up much earlier tomorrow so I have time to do everyone’s paint because I’m sure Jasper and Monty will want some again… And I want some too!” Clarke said indignantly. 

“Yeah, why didn’t you do yours today? You were at the tent long enough.” Raven said, nudging Wells.

Clarke shook her head. “For the last time, Bellamy wanted more paint than you guys so it took longer.”

“Yeah, but last I heard from you, you didn’t even like the guy so why spend all that time on him if you don’t like him?”

“I was feeling generous.” Clarke said with a tone that said ‘please shut up.’ Raven and Wells laughed but took the hint.

The rest of the night passed in a blur. They caught three more sets before the headliner for the night. They ended the night dancing to some DJ with thousands of other people surrounding them. By the time they made their way back to their tent, it was 2 in the morning and they were on the verge of death. But their neighbors were far from it. They could hear Jasper and Monty’s electronica playlist twenty tents down.

“Well, sleep doesn’t seem like it’s in the cards for us tonight…” Clarke grumbled to herself.

“Well I am always down to party!” Raven said, and ran off to join the party, her ponytail swinging behind her.

“I envy her.” Wells said, still slugging alongside Clarke.

“She’s always been like that. She never runs out of energy.”

“I don’t really think drinking this late was good for us…”

“I don’t think dancing all day and night until 3AM was good for us either…”

“True.” They had finally reached their campsite. The party was raging next door.

“I really don’t feel like going over there.” Clarke said, thinking about how much her feet hurt.

“Me neither but I don’t think we’re going to sleep any time soon anyway. Might as well join them.”

Clarke groaned but still ducked under the tapestry barrier.

“Clarke! Wells!” Jasper yelled, pushing his way over to them. He hugged them both into one big group hug. Jasper, Clarke realized, was an affectionate drunk. “Welcome to the party!” He gestured around the crowded tent. There were so many people. Well, actually, there weren’t a lot of people, but it was a lot of people for such a small space. Clarke surveyed the crowd while the music pumped through the air. Lincoln was talking to a girl with sharp features who was very obviously into him. Raven was talking to Monty and a boy she hadn’t seen before in another corner of the canopy. When Clarke finally spotted Bellamy she wished she hadn’t. He had his arm propped up against the truck, leaning on it. Between him and the truck was some girl in a neon crop top touching his arm, tracing the paint still left. Clarke couldn’t hear what she was saying but she saw the girl nod at the paint and say something and then saw Bellamy lean into the girl and whisper something in her ear that made her laugh. Just then Bellamy glanced over and made eye contact with Clarke. She quickly looked away and grabbed the first drink she saw. She made her way over to Lincoln and the girl with Jasper behind her.

“Clarke, this was Bellamy’s sister, Octavia!” Jasper said, gesturing towards the girl with sharp features. The girl looked over at Clarke and beamed.

“Hi, nice to meet you!” She had a pretty smile

“You too!” 

“Lincoln was just telling me you were the one who painted everyone this morning!” Octavia looked nothing like her brother, Clarke thought. Where Bellamy was strong and tan, Octavia was pale and angular. She still looked strong, but in a different way.

“Yeah, it took me forever!”

“Well, it looks amazing. You should do mine in the morning!”

“Yeah, of course!” Clarke said out loud while her mind only thought about the precious minutes of sleep she would be missing to do that.

She continued talking to them for a while but her eyes kept wandering over to Bellamy and the girl at the truck. Could they be any more obvious with their flirting? Clarke tried to shove them to the back of her mind and focus on the conversations in front of her. She wandered through the tent, talking to everyone for a couple of hours. She learned that Jasper, Monty, Lincoln, and Bellamy all went to the same high school when they were younger and had all been good friends ever since. Octavia had a massive crush on Lincoln but since he was Bellamy’s best friend, he didn’t think it was such a good idea. “But I don’t care what Bell said,” Octavia was sure to add. They had starting coming to Arkfest three years ago. Camped out together every year. “But you guys are easily our favorite neighbors we’ve ever had.” Octavia was going to spend the rest of the week with them at their site, she just had to come late because she had a final the first day. 

Everyone drank and laughed through the night. The fuzziness was edging around Clarke, and she was having a bit of trouble walking back over to the drink table. She heard a laugh and looked over to see the girl Bellamy was talking to with her head thrown back, laughing at whatever he had just said. Whatever it was, though, Clarke thought, it couldn’t possibly be that funny. Bellamy was still sitting on the tailgate with the girl between his legs. The paint Clarke had done on his arms had rubbed off in some places but there was still a swirl dipping down his wrist sitting on her hip. 

After taking a huge gulp of her drink, Clarke wandered over to them at the truck.

“What’s so funny?” Clarke said. They turned to look at her, surprised to see her standing there. Bellamy raised an eyebrow at her in questioning. Neither separated from the other so Clarke just stood to the side, awkwardly.

“Oh…” The girl looked back at Bellamy, smiling. “Bellamy here was just telling me an incredibly cheesy pick up line.”

Bellamy smirked and winked at the girl, taking a sip from his drink. “Cheesy it may be, but it works.”

“Oh, was it the one about what kind of vegetable you would be?” The girls head snapped back over to Clarke. Clarke took another sip of her drink and leaned against the tailgate. “Yeah, I heard him use that one on a girl two tents down last night.”

The girl looked back at Bellamy, offended. Bellamy just stared between her and Clarke, not knowing what to say. That wasn’t the response the girl was looking for, so she scoffed and stormed off.

“Hey, come back!” Bellamy hopped off the tailgate and stared after the girl. “Hey!”

Clarke simply looked at the rest of the people in the tent, trying, and failing, to hide her shit-eating grin behind her cup.

“What the hell, Clarke?” Bellamy said, walking back to the tailgate beside her.

“What?” Clarke said, plastering her fakest confused look on her face.

Bellamy just tilted his head at her, not buying it.

“Oh, come on! Using a cheesy pick up line unironically, trying to make it seem ironic? Even you can do better than that. I was saving the poor girl.”

“If I didn’t know any better it would sound like you’re a bit jealous, Princess.” Bellamy smirked, leaning towards her.

“Don’t flatter yourself, Bellamy.” But Clarke couldn’t help the blush creeping up her face. She blamed it on the alcohol. Kanye was onto something there.

Bellamy got closer to her still, sliding beside her. “I don’t know, that’s not what your blushing says.”

“I am not blushing!” Clarke demanded which, of course, only made her blush even harder. Bellamy only laughed, a sound Clarke decided she really enjoyed. He stepped in front of her, backing her into the truck. He leaned into her, bringing his mouth to her ear. 

“Jealousy is an ugly thing, Clarke” Bellamy whispered in her ear, his breath tickling her neck, sending shivers down her body.

“Yeah, well so are you…” Clarke said, without much conviction.

Just then Jasper tripped and fell into the drink table and Clarke used the distraction to duck out from underneath Bellamy. She turned around and gave him the finger as she walks back over to her tent for the night.

-

When Clarke’s alarm went off the next morning she seriously contemplated just turning it off and skipping the rest of the day. Unfortunately, there was a line of people waiting for her to paint them. So she woke up and crawled into the day. She pulled her hair up, put on her splattered fanny pack, and got to work. Her work was sloppier than yesterday, but still good. She painted Raven’s, Wells’, Jasper’s, Monty’s, and Octavia’s arms, and Lincoln’s face. Bellamy even came over to get painted again. She finished his in about fifteen minutes.

“Not as much detail today, Princess?” He teased.

“I’ve got better things to do, today.” Clarke said, pulling out her second bottle of white paint.

“Oh, yeah? What’s that?”

“Gouge my eyes out with a spoon.” Clarke said as she plopped down in front of the mirror and starting painting her wrist.

This time she had finished everyone’s paint in enough time to go into the festival when it opened. They were waiting in line for bag check when they heard Monty’s voice approaching them.

“Hey, you guys mind if we join you?” Monty and Jasper walked up to them in line.

“Bellamy, Lincoln, and Octavia aren’t heading in until later and I think you guys mentioned trying to catch the same sets as us.”

“Yeah, I don’t mind.” Raven said, shrugging. “But if you get on our nerves, we’re ditching you.” Raven was always pretty blunt like that, you had to learn to live with it. But Jasper and Monty took it well, laughing it off.

“Deal.”

The day was a blur of motion and happiness. Clarke realized there was truly no better feeling than being in a crowd of thousands of people with her closest friends (plus Jasper and Monty), everyone singing the words blasting over the speakers. The feeling of the crowd surging forward when the artist gets in the crowd. The day was a carousel of colors and sounds washing over Clarke. Jasper and Monty fit in with them well, their nerdy jokes and laid back demeanor made them impossible to dislike.

The group sat down on the grass, munching on the thai food they got from a truck nearby, watching the sunset. Monty distributed the alcohol he snuck in.

"I don't even want to know how you got a twelve pack in here." Raven said after taking her drink from him.

"Just a well placed 20 dollar bill at security." Monty said, handing Jasper his drink. They all laughed and settled back into a content silence.

The sun was setting over the festival grounds, giving everything a nice pink hue. They could see most of the grounds from the hill they were perched on. There wasn't a set they had wanted to catch so that sat there until dark.

"That black light set starts pretty soon, we should probably start our trek over there." Wells said as he gathered up his garbage.

The DJ set was a stage tucked into the trees on the east side of the festival grounds. They all got up and started the walk over.

"Clarke, we are easily going to be the coolest looking people in there." Jasper said excitedly. They were all covered in white & neon paint. Triangles, lines, swirls, flowers, you name it.

"Yeah, that'll be a first for you, huh, Jasper?" Bellamy said, popping up out of nowhere. Jasper punched him in the arm and everyone laughed as he pulled back rubbing his knuckles.

"We saw you guys and decided to join the squad." Lincoln said, hand in hand with Octavia.

Clarke thought all chances of her enjoying herself were now eradicated. Bellamy being around always put her on edge so she didn't say anything. It was already dark outside but by the time they made it into the thicket of woods where the DJ stage was, it was pitch black except for the black lights everywhere. When they stepped into the crowd, they lit up. They couldn't see much of each other's features but they could see the triangles around their eye or the lines down their arms. Jasper was right, they were definitely the coolest people there, which was a huge swell to Clarke's ego. Clarke noticed how well the pink and white contrasted off of Bellamy's bare chest. She also noticed the amount of girls staring at the same thing. Just then the beats started swelling through the crowd. Not for the first time since arriving two days ago, Clarke shoved her thoughts of Bellamy shirtless to the back of her mind. She turned to Raven and started to dance with her. 

They were holding hands and swaying to the beat of the music. Flashes of color surrounded them as everyone else around them danced. Clarke looked over and saw Bellamy dancing with a small brunette. Bellamy and the girl were bouncing and moving to the beat. Clarke couldn’t see Bellamy’s eyes out from underneath his hair. As the lights flashed, Clarke noticed their bodies get closer and closer. Just then, two other guys joined them. Trying to not think about the girl dancing on Bellamy a few feet away, Clarke grabbed one of them to dance with. 

The guy with Raven was tall and covered in sloppy blue paint. Clarke's guy had long floppy brown hair. They continued dancing together and the guy started slipping his hands down Clarke's back. She looked over the guys’ shoulder and at Bellamy. He was still dancing with the brunette. She was used to getting close to guys while dancing, it wasn't a big deal, but this guy was getting a bit too handsy. Clarke looked back towards Bellamy as she pulled the guys’ hands back up but Bellamy and the brunette had disappeared into the crowd.

“The name’s Finn,” the floppy-haired boy yelled to Clarke over the music.

His hands kept getting lower and lower no matter how many times she pulled them back up. His hands were getting grabby and even though she was buzzed from their drinks earlier, she wasn't that buzzed. No matter how many times she pushed him off he kept holding on. No one seemed to notice, they were all wrapped up in the music. Raven had ditched her guy and moved on to dance with Jasper and Monty. Wells was with a girl and Lincoln, Bellamy, and Octavia were nowhere to be found. Clarke looked around trying to grab someone's attention. The guys’ breath was hot on her neck as she tried to squeeze out of his grip but he was too strong. Clarke couldn't see his face anymore, only smell his breath.

Suddenly the guys' grip vanwashed and replaced by another, gentler one. Clarke looked up to see Bellamy in front of her. He continued holding her against him while the floppy haired guy stared up at him. Eventually he realized he wasn't getting Clarke back and left to find a new girl to prey on. Even after he left, though, Bellamy danced with Clarke.

"I was handling that." Clarke yelled over the music.

"Yeah, looked like it." Bellamy yelled back, his breath tickling her hair.

She realized how close they were. Clarke’s entire body was pressed against Bellamy’s body, his arms holding her to him. His grip wasn’t tight but hesitant, he was ready to let go when she asked him to. But she didn’t.

Instead, Clarke let the music and the lights wash over her. She reached her arms up and around Bellamy’s neck. His arms froze for a second but relaxed when Clarke pressed up against him even more. Their bodies blended into each other, swaying, pressing, moving to the frantic beat of the DJ. The colors on their arms and faces swirled together into a painting of their movements. The beat pulsed around them, their hands on each other. Clarke ran her hands into Bellamy’s hair. It was as soft as she had pictured it. He ran his hands up and down her back as they moved. She turned around and pushed her back against him. She kept her hands up at his shoulders and his explored her torso, across her ribs, up her arms. He bent his head down so his face was tucked into her hair at her shoulder. She could feel his hot breath on her neck. She pushed her butt up against him and she heard him take a sharp breath. Clarke grinned and continued dancing with him. 

They swayed and moved with each other to the beat of the music. Bellamy held Clarke close to him in a tight and possessive grip and Clarke loved it. As the beat got faster and more frantic, so did their bodies.

She wasn’t sure why she was dancing with him, she didn’t even like him. Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was the music, but in that moment, Clarke didn’t care. She couldn’t see or care about anyone else. Everyone around them, lit up by the black lights and dancing to the beat were all just background for her and Bellamy. Bellamy had ahold of almost every one of Clarke’s senses; she could feel his hands, smell his scent, hear his breath, see their paint blending together. All too soon, the set started to end. The DJ shouted his goodbyes as the beat continued. WIth one last flourish of lights and sound, the set was over and Bellamy and Clarke were left standing against each other, breathing heavily. Clarke looked up into Bellamy's eyes. He looked down at her through his long lashes. "That was so awesome!" Monty yelled, running up to Clarke and Bellamy. They jumped apart, Bellamy scratching the back of neck and Clarke fixing her shirt. "Oh... Sorry..." Monty said, sensing he had interrupted something. "For what?" Clarke said, a little too enthusiastically. She left them, walking back to Raven 

They all made their way back to the tents. Wells was giving Raven a piggy-back ride while Monty and Jasper danced alongside them, trying their best to recreate the music from the set. Octavia, Bellamy and Lincoln were M.I.A., they had lost them in the crowd at some point. Clarke did her best to laugh along with them but she was still thinking about earlier and how close her and Bellamy were. 

Octavia and Lincoln were already back at the tent by the time they got there. They were setting up the beer pong table in between the two camp sites.

“Hey, we invited a couple people to come play if that’s alright with you guys?” Octavia said, already setting out the cups. Clarke looked around the tent.

“Hell yeah, I love beating people at beer pong!” Raven said, hopping off Wells’ back. “Clarke, you wanna be on my team?”

Clarke was jolted out of her search. “What? Oh, yeah sure.”

Clarke walked over and sat on the tailgate of the truck and watched everyone set up the two tents for the party, which consisted of popping out the camping chairs and hanging a new trash bag. Eventually, the new people started showing up. Clarke recognized a couple of them from the black light set earlier. As she was saying hi to all of them, she noticed the boys’ tent unzip and Bellamy step out. They made eye contact for a second. Clarke thought she saw something flicker in Bellamy’s eyes for a second but she looked away before she could figure it out.

The new additions to the group made their way to the beer pong table.

“Alright, Clarke and I are playing whoever wants to lose!” Raven shouted, pulling Clarke over to the table.

Their two opponents, two new guys named Bryan and Miller took their places at the table and passed out the ping pong balls.

“Hope you’re ready to get your ass kicked.” Clarke said, tossing the ball directly into Miller’s cup.

 

Clarke and Raven destroyed Miller and Bryan. It was a quick game that ended with Bryan and Miller tipsy and Clarke and Raven drinking a cup each.

“I have honestly never seen people that bad at beer pong.” Clarke said, laughing while Miller grumbled beside her.

“Well I didn’t know we were signing up to play the Beer Pong Prodigy.”

Raven and Clarke just laughed even harder and poured Miller and Bryan drinks.

“Drink it off. That was a tough loss.” Raven said, handing them their cups.

“Whatever.” Miller said, though only half-heartedly angry.

Clarke heard a thud and Bellamy yell “What the hell?!”

Everyone turned toward the commotion. Wells and Bellamy were standing in between Raven’s Jeep and Bellamy’s truck. Wells was holding Raven’s door and there was a nice silver streak across Bellamy’s back door.

“Oh my God, man, I am so sorry.”

“You can’t just watch what you’re doing?” Bellamy yelled. Clarke walked over to them. Like hell Bellamy was going to yell at Wells like that.

Wells, always the good-natured gentleman, wasn’t phased. “Seriously, I am so sorry. It was an accident.”

“Well maybe pull your head out of your ass and shit like this won’t happen!”

Anger boiled up inside of Clarke. “Bellamy, just calm the fuck down. Accidents happen.” Bellamy whirled around to face her, the fury in his eyes focused on her now.

“It’s not like this truck was worth much anyway.” Clarke continued, crossing her arms across her chest. She heard Jasper whisper ‘shit’ behind her.

“Are you serious?!” Bellamy raged, whipping his head around to face her. Clarke didn’t say anything but just set her jaw in determination. “Well I’m sorry not everyone’s mommy and daddy can buy them a brand-new car.”

“Oh, fuck off.” Clarke said, rolling her eyes.

Bellamy glared at her, his fury burning into her eyes. His mouth was a tight line and she could see his jaw twitching under his skin. Clarke stared back at him, daring him to say something else. Everyone around them stood in silence, watching.

Clarke watched Bellamy’s guard go up behind his eyes and he turned and walked off down the row of tents and into the night. Clarke stood there, staring after him.

There was a small splash and Monty said, “Drink up,” breaking the awkward silence surrounding everyone.

“Damn it.” Octavia said, grinning and swiping up her drink. Everyone relaxed and went back to the party, ignoring the showdown that just happened.

Wells walked up to Clarke, “You didn’t have to do that.” Wells said, bringing Clarke’s attention back to the present.

“Yeah, I know.” Clarke said, shaking her head. “I just can’t stand people talking to you like that.”

“I know, Clarke. Thank you.” He said, smiling at her. “Come on, let’s go watch Jasper try to impress Raven.” Clarke laughed, happy she wasn’t the only one who thought that.

 

It was about an hour before Bellamy came back. Clarke was talking to Lincoln about the college he attends when she heard him walk up.

“Yeah, Bellamy and I go to TDC. About five hours from here.” Lincoln said, sipping his drink.

“No way?! I go to ARK! That’s only half an hour from you guys!” Clarke said, shocked at the coincidence.

“Oh wow, small world.” Lincoln said. “How did you feel about getting your asses kicked by us at basketball this year?” He smirked at her and Octavia laughed beside him. Just then Clarke heard something move in the back of the truck and looked over just in time to see Bellamy’s sneakers disappear to the top of the truck.

“Yeah, that’s crazy…” Clarke said, still looking over at the truck. “I’ll be right back…” 

She set her drink down and made her way to the bed of the truck. She climbed into the bed of the truck and saw Bellamy sitting on the roof, his back to the tents. He stared up at the sky, not looking at her as she climbed up next to him. Neither of them talked at first, but it wasn’t the angry silence they usually fell into. They sat together, looking at the stars in the sky, forming constellations, and the stars on the ground, from the tents around them.

Bellamy cleared his throat. “Hey. I’m sorry.” Clarke turned toward him. He continued to not meet her eye. “I shouldn’t have said that earlier…”

“Wait, why are you apologizing?” Clarke said, confused.

Bellamy looked at her, surprised and confused. “I just… I don’t know, I was pretty mean earlier…”

“So? I was an ass first; you shouldn’t have to apologize.” Bellamy just stared at her. She looked away from him. “I shouldn’t have said that about your truck. I’m sorry. I actually like your truck…” She patted the roof beside her. “It’s cute.”

“Ugh, did you just call my truck cute?” Bellamy said groaning.

“Oh, shut up. Your masculinity should not be so easily threatened.” Clarke said, grinning at him. They fell silent for a minute.

Clarke picked at the hem of her shorts. She looked around and sighed. “It’s just… I’ve been through a lot of shit and Wells has been there for me through all of it so I get really defensive when it comes to him… But that doesn’t excuse what I said.”

Bellamy just sat and looked at her while she stared off into the distance. Clarke got the feeling people didn’t apologize to Bellamy often. She didn’t know what else to say so she just sat there quietly beside him.

“I get being defensive. That’s why I got so pissed about the truck. It’s stupid but it’s more than just a truck to me…”

Clarke was surprised to hear the openness in Bellamy’s voice.

“Octavia and I… we never had much growing up. And then our mom passed away so I had to take care of the both of us for a while. I got this truck from a friend for cheap because it wouldn’t run anymore. So, I fixed it up.” He laughed, “Well, I fixed it up internally. Still working on the outside.” He said, picking at the rust on the roof in the small space between him and Clarke.

Clarke could tell he wasn’t telling her this to make her feel bad. He just wanted to be honest. She understood that.

“There were a lot of nights I went hungry so O could eat. I never told her that, of course.” Bellamy’s face was highlighted by the moon, full and high in the sky beside him. Clarke could see the tears welling up in his eyes. “We’re doing a lot better now, obviously. Just made me really miss my mom … It’s hard for me to get close to people…” He looked over at Clarke, his eyes searching hers.

“Yeah, my dad passed away a few years ago. I still had my mom, but it was really hard.” Clarke voice caught at the end of her sentence, she blinked away the tears in her own eyes. “I get not being able to trust people.”

Bellamy looked at Clarke’s hand, resting beside his. He reached over and squeezed her hand. Clarke looked down at his hand, rough and big in her small and soft hand. They sat together on top of the truck, above everyone else; two very different people bonded in their brokenness.

-

The next morning Clarke got up and ready in record time. Mostly because the water in her camping shower was ridiculously cold, but still. She slipped on her high-waisted shorts and blue bralette. It complimented her curves nicely. When she hopped out of the make-shift changing area by the Jeep, Bellamy was standing at the truck, eyeing the depleted snack selection.

“Jasper ate every single one of those damn honey bu-” Bellamy’s voice stopped right as he looked up at Clarke. His eyes flicked down to her chest and Clarke smirked.

“Eyes are up here, buddy.” Clarke laughed as she walked back to her table of snacks. “Here.” She tossed him a honey bun and he snapped out of his trance.

He caught the honey bun and started stuttering but Raven saved him by opening the tent with a loud yawn.

“Remind me to stop hanging out with you losers so late.” She said, oblivious to Bellamy and Clarke. She grabbed a Donut Stick and looked up. “Damn, Clarke, your boobs look awesome.” She glanced over at Bellamy, who was still staring at Clarke. “Don’t they, Bellamy?” Clarke threw her head back laughing as the top of Bellamy’s ears turned red and he started stuttering again.

Clarke spent the rest of her morning painting everyone’s arms and faces, having barely enough time to grab her phone before Wells and Raven were pulling her towards the entrance.

“Wait, wait, wait!” Octavia stopped them from leaving. “We have to get a group picture!!” She said, pulling Raven back to the tent.

“Fine, but if I miss my set it’s on you.” Wells said, trudging behind her. 

Octavia grabbed someone walking down the row and handed them her phone. “Alright, everyone, scrunch together.”

They all crowded together on the front of Bellamy’s truck and smiled.

“Alright, got it.” Their photographer said, not all too happy about having to stand there waiting for them to pose.

“Okay, a funny one!!” Octavia said as everyone groaned. Clarke looked around, trying to find someone to pose with. She caught Bellamy’s eye from across the group. He had Monty sitting in his lap like a child. Clarke shot him a bird and Bellamy returned the favor just as the guy took the picture.

“Thank you!” Octavia sang, taking her phone back. “Here, everyone give me your number so I can send them to you guys.”

After they punched their numbers into Octavia’s phone, Wells, Raven, and Clarke finally made their way into the festival. They made it to the set just in time and spent the morning dancing and twirling and singing their hearts out. After the first couple of sets, they met up with their neighbors.

“About time you guys made it in.” Raven said.

“Yeah, well, someone got caught trying to sneak a certain substance into the festival and got sent back to the tent.” Octavia said, eyeing Monty.

“Oh come on! That security guard was a dick.” Monty said defensively.

“Yeah, he probably could’ve used some of our stash.” Jasper said, snorting and high-fiving Monty.

They all started the trek across the ground to the next set. It was Clarke’s favorite band, the set she had been looking forward to the most. Her and Raven screamed when they came on stage and started dancing wildly when the guitar started.

“You guys are nerds!” Bellamy yelled at her over the music.

Clarke stuck her tongue at him and continued dancing with Raven.

“Very mature.” Bellamy yelled, not taking his eyes off of Clarke. His brown eyes were dark and glittering. Even as everyone else started dancing and jumping to the music, Clarke felt Bellamy’s eyes on her. She continued twirling and singing with Raven, pretending not to notice.

Once the set was over, they sat down on the grass by the stage, exhausted. The sun was setting behind them.

“When’s our next set?” Raven said between gulps of water.

“Well, I’ve got one at 8 at the Ground stage. But I don’t think you guys care about that one.” Clarke said, scrolling through the schedule on her phone.

“Yeah, I think I might skip that one.” Raven said as she took a Rice Krispies treat from Wells. 

There was a chorus of ‘same’s and ‘me too’s from her friends. Clarke didn’t mind going to the set by herself so she wasn’t annoyed.

“Oh, I wanted to see that one.” Bellamy said, not looking up from his phone.

“Okay, cool, we can go.” Clarke ignored the grin on Octavia’s face and the glance between Raven and Wells.

“Okay, cool.” Bellamy said, a little too nonchalantly.

Once they made plans to meet up later that night, Clarke jumped up to head to the set.

“Bellamy, you ready to go?”

Bellamy stood up to join Clarke.

“You kids have fun!” Jasper yelled as they walked away while Monty snickered beside him. 

Bellamy flicked him off and turned back to Clarke. “Idiots…” he mumbled.

They walked in silence for a while. They had to cross the entire grounds to get to the Ground stage, tucked into a woodland area on the south side. 

“Wow…” Clarke whispered as they got to the edge of the woods. She hadn’t been to this part of the grounds at night, yet. Inside the woods was darker, the leaves and branches blocking out the setting sun. There were fairy lights strung throughout the canopy, bringing stars into the trees. Clarke looked up at Bellamy. His face was outlined by the gold light, shining against his curls that Clarke so desperately wanted to run her hands through again. She looked away and kept walking.

“Come on, slow poke, we’re going to miss it.”

“Whatever you say, Princess.” Bellamy laughed, walking behind her.

“Why do you keep calling me that?” She stopped, turning around.

He walked in front of her, looking back. “Just seemed fitting.” He said, winking at her as he ran into a tree.

Clarke snorted and kept walking, “Smooth.”

The stage was filling up when they got there so they wormed their way into the pit. Bellamy walked in first, pushing people out of the way, and Clarke walked behind him, laughing. 

“This looks good.” He said, stopping.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t know, all I can see is your back.”

“Didn’t seem to have a problem staring at my back the other day, now did we, Princess?” Bellamy said as he turned around and switched spots with her/

Clarke blushed and stammered, “Don’t flatter yourself, I was not staring.”

“Whatever you have to tell yourself.” Bellamy grinned at her.

Clarke was saved by the sound of the cheers as the band came on stage. When the first song started, Clarke turned around and lip sang the words to Bellamy.

“You’re so lame!” He shook his head at her but then eventually gave in and sang back with her. He twirled her and they laughed, singing and badly dancing to the music. 

In the middle of the third song, a fight broke out between two guys beside them.

“What the fuck, bro?!” One guy yelled as the other spilled his beer on him.

“Shit, sorry man.” The drunker one said back. 

“No, fuck you!” The frat boy shoved the drunk guy and he fell back onto Clarke, making her fall to the ground.

“Ouch, shit!” Clarke said, pushing the drunk guy off of her. 

“Yeah, that’s what you g-” the frat boy started to yell before Bellamy pushed him back.

“What the fuck??” He said, looking at Bellamy

“You made that guy knock her over!” Bellamy yelled. A circle formed around them as everyone pressed back to give them room.

Clarke picked herself up off the ground and shoved the frat boy back. “Dick!”

“Fuck you!” The guy yelled back at Clarke. Clarke rolled her eyes and turned back towards Bellamy.

“What did you say to her?” Bellamy yelled over Clarke’s head.

“Bellamy, it’s fine, don’t worry about it.” She said, pushing on his chest.

“Yeah, listen to your bitch.”

Bellamy’s jaw locked in anger. “What the fuck did you just call her?” Bellamy said, his voice just barely above a whisper.

“You heard me.” The frat boy said, with much less conviction than the first time.

It was like the air got sucked out of the space as everyone watched Bellamy stare at the guy, his eyes on fire and his fists clenched at his side.

Bellamy was still for about a second and then suddenly he was on top of the guy on the ground.

“Bellamy, stop!” Clarke yelled and the two wrestled on the ground. Bellamy was much bigger than the other guy, but the other guy was still getting a few hits in.

The crowd around them moved apart, trying to avoid the flying fists and elbows. Two security guards broke through the crowd, one grabbing Bellamy and the other grabbing the frat boy. Clarke watched as the security guards held them apart, Bellamy pushing against his arm, screaming.

“You need to watch how the fuck you talk to people!” He yelled, his chest heaving as the security guard pushed him towards the back of the crowd. He was bleeding on his forehead and Clarke tried to focus on that and not how hot he looked, his muscles flexing and his voice booming.

She snapped out of her trance and followed him out of the crowd. The security guard sat him down on a bench at the back of the trees.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.” Bellamy said, waving the guard off. 

Clarke walked up to Bellamy and grabbed his face. He refused to look her in the eyes, his chest still heaving and a fine layer of sweat and dirt on his face. His brown eyes were still swimming in anger. Clarke wanted to smooth the crease between his eyebrows with her thumb. Instead she tilted his head and looked at the wound on his eyebrow.

She turned to the security guard. “I need an antiseptic wipe and a butterfly bandaid. It’s not that deep.” The guard just stared at her at first. “I’m pre-med.” She added.

The security guard nodded and left towards the first-aid tent.

She turned back to Bellamy, “Really?” she said, folding her arms across her chest.

He still wouldn’t look at her and just sat on the bench looking at the ground.

“Your shirt is ruined.” She said. Bellamy looked down to his shirt, seeing the grass stains and rips. He grabbed the bottom of the shirt and pulled it off, throwing it on the ground. He finally looked up at Clarke and she raised an eyebrow at him.

“What? You said it was ruined!” Clarke rolled her eyes and turned to the security guard who had just walked up.

“Thanks.” She said, taking the wipe and bandaid from him.

She walked back over to Bellamy and grabbed his chin again, tilting his head so she could see the cut better. She pressed the wipe to his head and he hissed in pain.

“You’re an idiot.” Clarke said, shaking her head.

“He called you a bitch!” Bellamy said, turning to face her.

She turned his face back again. “I’ve been called worse by better people.” She said as she opened up the bandage.

Bellamy just mumbled something under his breath as Clarke pressed the bandaid onto his forehead. She stepped back and looked at him. He sat there with his jaw clenched, looking away. Somehow, the bandaid made him look even more attractive. Which pissed her off.

Clarke scoffed and stomps off towards the exit of the woods.

“Hey, Clarke! Wait!”

Clarke just kept walking, ignoring him.

“Clarke!” Bellamy caught up to her, grabbing her arm and spinning her around to face him.

“What?!” She hissed, arms still crossed.

“Why are you running away from me?” Bellamy asked, letting go of her arm.

“Because you infuriate me!” Clarke said, throwing her hands up in the air and looking around. There was no one around them, everyone was still at the set. “You fight some dude and ruin this set for me and I want to be mad but you just look so good and I-”

Bellamy closed the gap between them in one swift step, grabbing the back of her neck and pulling her into him. Clarke sighed against him and ran her hands up into his hair. She took a deep breath; he smelled like sweat and dirt but in the best way possible. She felt them moving but didn’t know where they were going until her back slammed up against the fence. She opened her mouth in surprise and Bellamy took advantage of it, sliding his tongue in to meet hers.

“Be careful. Your head.” Clarke said breathlessly between kisses.

“I don’t care.” Bellamy said, his voice hoarse. His voice made Clarke’s stomach flip and she deepened the kiss.

Their mouths fought for control, the heat and urgency of the kiss resonating through their bodies. Bellamy slid his hand down to her ass and squeezed. Clarke responds by biting his bottom lip. She jumped and wraps her legs around his waist. Bellamy pushed her up against the fence even more, the metal biting into her shoulders. She rolled against him while tugging on his hair and she heard a deep growl in his chest. She smiled against his lips and pressed her boobs against his chest.

Bellamy moved his mouth off of Clarkes and down to her jaw. He kissed down her jaw and neck, biting and tugging, leaving marks on her skin. Clarke answered by working her own way across his collarbone, though the marks she left aren’t as obvious on his dark skin. His skin was salty and sweet and she loved it. He brought one of his hands up her side and under her bralette, palming at her breast. Clarke laughed and Bellamy caught it with his mouth. Clarke ran her fingernails across his back as he ran his warm hands across her exposed ribs. They finally broke apart, out of breath.

Clarke looked into Bellamy’s eyes, his pupils swallowing all of the brown that normally surrounded them as he looked into Clarke’s eyes. 

“I’ve wanted to do that all damn week.” He whispered, his lips swollen. He looked at Clarke, his eyes burning and hungry. Clarke grabbed his face and pulled him in again, not ever wanting it to end. 

-

The last day of the festival, Raven, Clarke, Wells, Bellamy, Lincoln, Octavia, Jasper, and Monty, or the ‘Adventure Squad’, as Jasper named it, went in together. Having a huge group was nice because they could commandeer the entire pit but it also sucked because everyone hated them for it. Surprisingly, though, they managed to stay together the entire day, going to sets and eating from food trucks.

“So, listen, I know we just met you guys but we should definitely be neighbors again next year.” Octavia said to the group as they all sat under a tree on a hill overlooking the festival. They were all relaxing between sets, enjoying their lunch.

“Oh yeah, for sure.” Monty said, mouth full.

“Ooh, maybe we could plan a super camp!! Get two or three plots and have the Taj Mahal of festival camping!” Jasper said excitedly.

“I’ve got a massive tent at home that would easily fit all of us. I never bring it because it’s too big for one plot.” Raven added.

Clarke smiled as they all continue planning their super-site. She leaned back into Bellamy and looked up at him. The freckles on his cheeks shifted as he smiled down at her and kissed the top of her head. Clarke looked over at the rest of the group. She couldn’t wait for next year.

**Author's Note:**

> PHEW! Hope that was good enough payoff for you all :)
> 
> Like I said, pleaseeee leave comments! What did I do well, what could I do better, etc.
> 
> I made a moodboard/aesthetic thing for this fic so here's the link! https://thearkdelinquents.tumblr.com/post/157573700661/the-beat-my-heart-skips-you-just-got-beer-all


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